Ecomyths is a blog designed to help people think for themselves. Empirical data are contrasted with theories to examine axiomatic myths: ideas taken to be so well accepted that they don't need to be proven. It seeks to change ideas, correct fallacies and challenge dominant constructs by having people read, think and reflect for themselves about contemporary issues. Facts don't change your perspective. Your perspective changes your facts.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Stern, Suzuki and the silent majority

Here is an excellent discussion of the latest media blitz seeking to invoke continued fear for climate catastrophe and necessity for self-anointed guardians of correctness (the "smart", intellectual elites) to control the world. The same people promoting fear are those who supply the answers that require them to take control for "the good of all".

Funny thing happened on the way to the forum, however. First up, the media itself is refusing to lay down and die while the vestiges of political discourse are denied by "liberal" thinkers such as David Suzuki. Secondly, it seems the general public is not quite as gullible and malleable as eco-advocates would want either.

All in all, the three commentaries re-enforce a faith in the human condition and civil society. That while we empathize and are compassionate, allow intellectuals space to float out ideas and constructs, the general masses are not inclined to completely trust abstract models, projections and/or alarmism, especially when the fears that they seek to promote fly in the face of an individual's own life experiences. Perhaps, perhaps, the eco-advocates may just be guilty of over-stating their case, past the point of redemption. Between the ice in New York of The Day After Tomorrow and the self-promotion implicit in An Inconvenient Truth, the general public just can't accept that we collectively have any certainty about the climate for the next century, simply because no-one appears able to even forecast next week's weather on a consistently accurate basis. Mentally, it is an awfully big leap of faith to go from inaccurate weather next week, to any sense of confidence in life-changing policies based on anybody's projection for the state of the world 100 years from now. Given we don't know what the price of gas will be 5 years from now, the scale of certitude claimed by proponents of AGW is just too much outside of most people's general belief box.

I'm reminded of all the old Monty Python skits, where the response of the old lady to any extended philosophical debate was always a polite "that's nice dear."

So, for the Nicholas Sterns and David Suzukis of the world, just smile and say "that's nice, want some tea?"

About Me

Dr. L. Graham Smith has over thirty years experience as a researcher, teacher and consultant in resources management. The author of over 70 publications, his writings successfully balance academic and practical considerations and provide a systematic framework for empowering change. His areas of expertise include: environmental ideology; globalization; the dynamics of change; the design and implementation of strategic planning processes; sustainability and its implementation; individual and institutional capacity building; educational praxis and, skills development.

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Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity of a system to engage in the complexities of continuous improvement consistent with deep values of human purpose. Fullan (2005)

Dynamism is Freedom

Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. Heinlein

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All you need is love

The more you love, the more you can love--and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just. Heinlein.